Memorandum pad unit



June 17, 1952 c. c. HARRIS 2,600,533

MEMORANDUM PAD UNIT Filed July 26, 1950 Iawenfor 6222 3 0; Hwdais', by llama SMIM #[WM fli'ioflnqys Patented June 17, 1952 MEMORANDUM PAD UNIT- Carl C. Harris, Orange, Mass., assignor to The Slencil 00., Orange, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 26, 1950, Serial No. 1 75,959

This invention relates to improvements in memorandum pads, and the object thereof is to provide a novel desk pad or memorandum pad appliance with novel means for clamping the sheets of the pad in place and in which the appliance is provided with means for detachably supporting a pencil, or other marking implement, so that t can be conveniently removed for use and readily replaced upon completion of its use.

Usual types of such appliances for holding a stack of removable sheets of writing paper contain no means for retaining a marking implement, such as a pencil or pen, when not in use. As a consequence the marking implement is often misplaced or lost so that when the user desires to make a memorandumsuch, for example, as during a telephone conversation, he is greatly inconvenienced by the loss or misplacement of the marking implement.

One of the objects of the invention, therefore, is to provide a memorandum pad appliance with such convenient means upon it for replaceably holding a marking implement so as to insure its presence when needed.

Usual marking implements, such as pencils'or pens, are provided with a resilient clip for holding them in the pocket of the user. A further object of the invention is to provide the memorandum pad appliance with means by which the marking implement can bedetachably secured to the pad in parallelism with and spaced from the uppermost sheet of the pad, so that the point of the implement will not be liable to be damaged and which will also enable the marking implement to be conveniently removed and replaced with a minimum effort upon the part of the user.

More specifically the object of the invention is to provide such a construction in which the pad of sheets is clamped to the base of the appliance by a narrow, thin, flat clamping plate having an upwardly offset central portion to receive the clip and position the marking implement lengthwise of, in parallelism with, and above the sheets of the pad.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction of the clamping plate in which the offset central portion presents parallel guides extending transversely of the plate acting to position the marking implement.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction in which at least one of the ends of the clamping plate presents a downwardly offset channel-shaped section forming a support for an additional'marking implement provided With a clip.

These and other features and objects of the 3 Claims. (Cl. 28115) invention will appear more fully from the-"ac companying description and drawing. andwili be particularly pointed out in the claims.

This application is a division and continuation in part of application Serial Number589g9a3 filed April 24, 1945, now abandoned, andaisor'o't application serial Number 739,603 filed April 5, 1947, now Patent No. 2,527,216 grantedOctober 24, 1950.

The drawings illustratepreferred embodimen of the invention; in which,

Fig. 1- isa view in'perspectiveof one embodiment;

Fig. 2 is a view, somewhat enlargedand taken chiefly in cross section, of the construction shownin Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective'of a second embodiment; and,

Fig. 4 is a view' in perspective of a third em bodiment of the invention.

The memorandum pad appliance of this in .vention comprises a fiat base, preferablyof rectangular shape and of metal or other suitable material. This base may rest directly .upon the desk or other support, or it may be'provided with any suitable form of legs or support ing structure. The base supports a stackiof uniform rectangular sheets of paper, either separate or secured together at one'edge' inthe usual manner.

The marking implement, as'pointed outgmay be either a pen, pencil, or other suitable'devi'ce, and for convenience the term pencil has been used herein as including any such marking implement.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the base I is of rigid sheet material, suchas metal, plastic, or the like, and is provided at each end with reversely bent arcuate extensions having terminal portions 2 and 3 spaced from and underlying the base and extending toward each other and provided with resilient antifriction members, shown in the form of resilient studs 4, adapted frictionally to engage the surface of the desk or other support. Preferably as illustrated the terminal 3 is spaced a r r distance than the terminal 2 from the base so that the appliance will stand in a conveniently inclined position.

The pad 5 of sheets of paper is firmly clamped to the base by a narrow, thin, fiat clamping plate 6 of suitable rigid material, such as metal, which overlies the face of the end portion of the uppermost sheet, and adjustable means are provided for securing this clamping plate adjacent its ends to the base. Inthis construction suitablyspaccd posts I extend vertically upward from the base and pass through apertures adjacent the ends of the clamping plate and nuts. 8 threaded to the posts engage the upper face of the clamping plate and thus firmly secure the stack of sheets in place on the base. The posts in this construction pass through holes formed for the purpose in the stack of sheets.

The pencil 9 illustrated is of the thin, fiat type having the lead It! adjustable therein and projecting from the point thereof and the eraser H mounted in the opposite end. Thepencil is provided with a suitable clip 12 herein shown as of the type illustrated in Patent No. 2,414,810 granted January 28, 1947.

The clamping plate 6 is provided with an offset central portion l3 extending well above the top of the sheets of paper so that the pencil may be held in place resting upon this ofiset portion 13 with the free end of the clip underlying this offset portion and holding the pencil firmly in place. In this position the pencil will be held firmly supported in spaced parallelism with the uppermost sheet of the stack and extending longitudinally thereof.

Thus it will be seen that the pencil may readily be removed from and replaced in position, will not be likely to be lost or mislaid, and will always be available for instant use.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 3 is in its main features similar to that described. It comprises a suitable fiat rectangular base 2| with the stack of sheets 22 resting thereupon. The clamping plate 23 is also a narrow, thin, flat plate of metal, or other rigid material. The base is similarly provided with vertically upstanding posts near each edge which pass through suitable apertures in the stack of-sheets and have threaded thereto the nuts 24 so that the clamping plate firmly clamps the stack of sheets to the base. In this case, however, the apertures in the clamping plate through which the posts pass are of the bayonet type with the larger portions 25 of a size to enable the nuts 24 to pass through and thus enable the clamping plate to be removed and replaced without entirely disengaging the nuts from the posts.

The clamping plate is provided with the upwardly offset central portion 29 to receive the clip 21 of the pencil 28 therebeneath and thus to support the pencil in spaced parallelism with the uppermost sheet of the stack.

A further feature of the invention is embodied in this construction in that the clamping plate at each side of this offset central portion presents parallel guides exending transversely of the clamping plate and which act further to position' the pencil and insure its standing in central longitudinal position. These parallel guides are shown as formed by upwardly extending bent portions 29 on the clamping plate connecting the offset portion 26 to the main body of the clamping plate.

A further feature of the invention is illustrated in this form in that the clamping plate is formed at each end to present a downwardly ofiset channel-shaped section to form a support for an additional pencil provided with a clip. At one end this channel-shaped section presents a fiat bottom portion 39 so that a flat pencil of the type illustrated may be mounted thereon with its clip exending therebeneath, while at the other end this channel-shaped section is of a semi-cylindrical form 3| adapted to hold a cylindrical penoil with the clip extending therebeneath.

. A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 4, in which the base 4! is of similar form to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and provided with similar extensions at each end having the terminal portions 42 and 53 provided with the studs 44.

The stack of sheets 45 is similarly held clamped to the base by the narrow, thin, flat clamping plate 4''. But in this case the posts 41 extending upward from the base and provided with the nuts 49 threaded thereon pass entirely outside of the stack of sheets 45 so that it is not necessary to form apertures through the stack of sheets. Furthermore, the ends 49 of the clamping plate extend down against and past each side edge of the base, and thus act in positioning the clamping plate and giving a finished appearance.

The pencil 59 is shown as of the same type illustrated in the other figures and provided with a similar clip 5| and the clamping plate is of the same construction as that illustrated in Fig. 3 having the upwardly offset central portion 52 with the pencil resting on the top thereof and the clip passing therebeneath. Also the clamping plate is provided with the same parallel guides 53 formed therein extending in parallelism transversely of the plate and acting to position the pencil.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. A memorandum pad construction having means for securing a stack of uniform rectangular sheets to a base comprising a narrow thin flat clamping plate of rigid material overlying the face of the end portion of the uppermost sheet, adjustable means for securing the clamping plate adjacent its ends to the base, said clamping plate having an upwardly ofiset central portion adapted to receive a pencil clip therebeneath and thereby to support the pencil at right angles to the clamping plate and in spaced parallelism with, and longitudinally of, the uppermost sheet of the stack.

2. A memorandum pad construction as defined in claim 1, in which at least one of the ends of the clamping plate presents a downwardly offset channel-shaped section forming a support. for an additional pencil provided with a clip.

3. A memorandum pad construction as defined in claim 1, in which the clamping plate at each side of the said ofiset central portion presents parallel guides extending transversely of the plate acting to position the pencil.

CARL C. HARRIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 676,552 Adams June 18, 1901 1,482,659 Oswald Feb. 5, 1924 1,506,1 1? Abbott Aug. 26, 1924 1,648,545 Finstone Nov. 8, 1927 2,079,257 Kaiser May 4, 1937 2,185,151 Kemp Dec. 26, 1939 2,383,858 Harris Aug. 28, 1945 2,414,819 Harris et a1. Jan. 28, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 157,048 Switzerland Nov. 16, 1932 959,182 France Sept. 21, 1949 

